Flying Car Maker Offers ‘Show Special’ Discount

Terrafugia’s Transition flying car demonstrates its folding wings at the New York auto show.

Flying-car maker Terrafugia Inc. made its auto- show debut in New York today and offered a “show special” discount to prospective customers.

Anna Mracek Dietrich, chief operating officer of the Woburn, Mass., company, said the first person wishing to reserve a Terrafugia Transition flying car, or roadable aircraft, can do so with a down payment of $2,500 instead of the usual $10,000.

Terrafugia has been developing the Transition since 2006 and recently test-flew the production prototype in Plattsburgh, N.Y. The company plans to begin delivering it to customers within the next 12 months. However, between now and then it has to complete dozens of test flights to prove its ability to meet numerous regulatory requirements.

Tests will include high-speed dives, spins and other extreme maneuvers aimed at probing the craft’s structural and aerodynamic limits.